When Scuba turns into Shoe Shopping

I've written a few times about how we're working to get Scuba certified.  Getting certified involves a lot of things.  You have to read the book.  There's a DVD you have to watch.  You have to pass a written test in a classroom setting.  You have to pass off skills in the pool, and eventually you have to pass off skills in a real open water environment.  I expected all of those things going into it.

What I didn't expect was shopping.  And not just any shopping.  That's right.  It involved shoe shopping.  It seems my wife is very sneaky.  Regardless of what we're doing, she somehow manages to make it about shoes.

So here's the story.  We have a set of snorkeling equipment that we bought from Costco.  (And snorkeling equipment turns out to be a subset of what you need to go diving.)  There's nothing wrong with the Costco equipment, but it's the cheap stuff that will meet minimal functional specifications for snorkeling.  However, when we were in Hawaii we found that the fins weren't incredibly effective for swimming and the mask had a tendency to leak.

So we decided that if we were going to get into diving, we should get some new equipment.

We went to the dive shop, fully intending to buy masks, fins, snorkels, and the like.  But before I knew it I was trying on shoes.  How did that even happen?

Of course, Robyn was in her element trying on shoes.

Don't get me wrong, our cute little booties will be very functional when we're getting into colder water or entering on rocky beaches.  I'm glad we got them.  I'm just trying to figure out if Robyn had the whole shoe shopping thing all planned out beforehand.  She knows I hate shoe shopping, but that I'll do it for an awesome cause like diving.

She's good.  She's real good.

My excellent bootie with my fins in the background.

Of course, we got all our basic gear.  (We didn't buy air tanks or regulators, we're not that hardcore yet.  Just fins, mask, booties, snorkel.)

Robyn enjoyed trying on shoes.  I enjoyed trying on masks.

These were the two finalists, but the black was more comfortable.

But look how good I look all decked out.

We tried out our new gear on our second Scuba class in the pool.  I'm not gonna lie, my new fins definitely propel me much better than the old ones.

Not to mention, we both look super snazzy in the water.

Guess who else looks pretty snazzy?  The Watsons did some shopping as well.

If you can't tell which ones are Watsons, just look for the ones slightly less precious than me.

The best news?  We passed off all of our basic skills.   I can now take off my mask under water, put it back on and clear it of water.  I also know what it feels like if my air runs out (I don't like it) and I can even share air with my buddy.  All of this means we've graduated from the pool.  Our next stop is a real open water dive at the Crater in Midway.

We're gonna look super snazzy at the Crater.

Scuba in the Pool

Remember when I told you that I passed the Scuba written test?  Well, the next step was to begin actually learning the Scuba skills in a swimming pool.

When we first arrived at the pool, we had to prove that we could swim.  This was the hardest part of the whole class.  I didn't think it was very fair, because when we go diving we'll be able to breather underwater which means we can just relax.  Nonetheless, they made us swim the length of the pool ten times and then we had to tread water for 10 minutes.

Treading water was the worst part.  Robyn totally floats.  If I'm ever drowning, I'll just grab onto her because she is the best flotation device around.  I sink like a rock.  So that was the longest ten minutes of my life.

Next, he asked if we remembered what we had learned about how to setup all our gear.  We kind of looked at each other and said, "Ya, we prolly remember."

He told us we'd better remember because we need to setup our gear now.  Setting up Scuba gear is kind of like setting up a computer.  It's not that hard, you just make sure that every hose (or wire, in the case of a computer) is connected to something.  Then you put the regulator in your mouth and make sure if it gives you air.  Robyn and I both got ours connected backward at first, but we corrected it before he inspected, so that's our little secret.  (Just don't tell, okay?)

Finally we got to do actual Scuba stuff.  The first thing we had to do was figure out how much weight we needed.  He said that we should be able to kneel on the ground in 4 feet of water.  If you float at all, you're too buoyant.  Robyn needed to add somewhere around 1000 pounds to be able to kneel.  I needed to add nothing.  At least I could tell her I wasn't crazy when I was working so hard to stay afloat a few minutes earlier.

After getting our gear and weights all set up, we went over some of the same skills we had learned in our Scuba Discovery class.  We practiced getting water out of the mask while still underwater.  We practiced finding our regulator if it ever comes out of our mouth.  We learned how to equalize the water pressure in our ears.

Finally, after practicing our new skills for an hour or so he gave us some free play time.  He let us swim to the very depths of the pool.  That's right, we did a real bona fide dive to the extreme depth of about 9 feet.  We also had a photo shoot during our free swimming time.

It's precious to hold hands underwater.

Swimming backward is a special skill.  It's like swimming forward, only it's backward.

This is Robyn's superman stance.  But she's better than Superman because Superman can't breathe underwater.

Aren't Dave and Jen so precious?  I mean, not as precious as us, but still pretty precious.

This is our instructor.  He likes headstands.  He also likes peace.

So that was our first experience with Scuba in a swimming pool.  This Saturday is our second class in the pool, then we get to start our open water classes.  Won't that be fancy?

Scuba in the Classroom

Remember a while back when Robyn and I took that Discover Scuba class?  Remember how, at the end of that post, I said that Robyn has agreed to get Scuba certified with me?  Well, we finally signed up for our certification class.  This week we did all of the classroom work, and on Saturday we're gonna be in a swimming pool learning super sweet skills.

We booked the class about a month ago.  The instructor gave us a book to read before the class began.  Naturally, the night before our class we realized we hadn't read any of it.  It was just like high school all over again.  And, just like high school, I skimmed the book the night before.

We took the class with some friends.  Dave and Jen made sure to read every word of the book.  They are good studious students.  If you're looking for dive buddies, they are probably better options then us.

Our first day in class we went over the first 3 chapters in the book and took a quiz on each chapter.  After that we got to learn how to hook up the air tank, and the BCD (Buoyancy Control Device).  We tried on our BCDs as well.  Robyn looked especially snazzy in hers.

The second day of class we went over the last two chapters and we took the final exam.  All through high school, I was the guy who barely skimmed the book and aced all the tests.  I don't think I was ever nervous about a test in my life.

I was nervous about this test.

I realized as I was about to take it that this knowledge was actually important for things like staying alive under water.  As our instructor passed out the test I quietly wished that I had actually read the book instead of skimming it.

I took the test.  I got 92%.  That means I get to go on to the cool parts where we actually do stuff in water.

After I was done with my test, it was important to document what was happening around me.  Robyn had different strategies to deal with me documenting.

Her first strategy was crankiness.

Her next strategy was to ignore me.  But look how happy Jen is to be taking a test.

I told my Dad that I got 92%, he asked if that meant that 8% of the time I don't survive the dive.  Blast!  I really need to go back and read the book in its entirety.

I'm hoping I won't die 8% of the time, but I do have to warn you about one of the questions I got wrong.

One of the things we are required to learn is a form of sign language specific to Scuba Diving.  One of the signs looks exactly like, "Thank you" in ASL.  But, it doesn't mean "Thank you" it is a request to use your air.  It's probably an important sign to know.  Here is a scenario that I picture happening if you Scuba Dive with me.

We are diving along and you realize you have run out of air.  (You should have paid better attention to your SPG, but whatevs)  You approach me and ask to use my air.  I sign back, "You're Welcome."  You repeat the first sign.  I repeat, "You're welcome."  After a few minutes of this you drown.

So, if you ever go diving with me, just know that I missed that question on the quiz.  Also, know that all Scuba divers are required to have a secondary source of air.  Don't ask me for mine.  Just grab it.  Then I'll say, "You're welcome."